1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to recreational personal watercraft and more particularly to water walkers (i.e. personal watercraft having two independent floats which can be individually secured to a person's feet to allow the person to move over the surface of a body of water with a striding motion).
2. Description of the Related Art
The goal of walking on water has attracted many inventors. The personal watercraft known as water walking devices or "water walkers" generally have two independent floats. A user can mount one of the floats to each foot. The user can then travel across water using a motion similar to cross country skiing. A problem with water walkers is that it is difficult to "grip" water. The prior art proposes various ways to make floats which experience more drag when they are moved through the water in a rearward direction than when they are moved through the water in a forward direction. For example, some prior art water walkers have one or more flaps or fins attached to the lower surfaces of their floats. The flaps open and push against the water when the floats are moved rearwardly. Examples of this type of water walker are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,236,381 to Keogh and U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,621 to Nayes. Such water walkers are not very efficient. There is significant backslipping and power is provided only by a user's legs. It can also be difficult for users to maintain their balance with this type of water walker.
Some known water walkers provide poles which a user can hold. The poles help the user to stay in balance. The poles may be equipped with flotation devices or paddle plates at their lower ends. U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,964 to Gilbert and U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,553 to Okano describe examples of such poles. The poles help a user to develop some additional forward thrust but such devices are still not very efficient. The float that the user is pushing off from (the "non-striding float") still tends to slip backward through the water.
What is needed is a personal watercraft of the water walker type that allows a user to glide across the surface of a body of water more efficiently than prior art water walkers.